Chair construction



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CHAIR CONSTRUCTION Filed July 28, 192 10 Sheets-Sheet 6 SeptQZO, 1932.F. w. KOHLER CHAIR CONSTRUCTION 10 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed July 28. 1927Sept. 20, 1932. w, KQHLER 1,877,895

CHAIR CONSTRUCTION Filed July 28. 1927 1 Sheets-Sheet 9 nve/mior p 20,1932- F. w. KOHLER CHAIR CONSTRUCTION Filed July 28. 1927 10Sheets-Sheet 1o 5% I72 Vania?" flan/din WkZer fltto 71,5

Patented Sept. 20, 1932 i UNITED STATES? 1 CHAIR CONSTRUCTIONApplication filed July 28,

This invention relates to improvements in chairs and has for its-objectto provide a new and improved device of this description. The inventionhas as a further object to provide a chair adapted for use in Connectionwith parlor and sleeping cars.

The invention has .as a furtherobject to provide a chair which can beused in the day time as a chair and by means of combining two chairs,a'sleeping berth can be provided. The invention has as a further objectto pro vide a chair to be used on cars of such a construction thatthe.car with these chairs can be used as a parlor car in the day timeandas a sleeping car in'the night time. The inven-' tion hasother objectsvwhich are 'moreparticularly. pointed out in' the accompanying drawings.

Referring now to the drawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective view ofthe'interior of a car provided with one form of chair, embodyingtheinvention and arranged to form berths for sleeping purposes.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a section on line3-3 of Fig. 2. a Fig. 4 is a plan view of two chairs opened andconverted into a bed.

Fig. 5 is a front viewof a chair'in open position. 3o

Fig. 6 1s a front viewof a chair closed. Fig. 7 isa section on the line77 of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a top plan view of a chair closed. Fig. 9 is asection on the line 99 of Fig. 6. Fig. 10'is a section on the line 10-10of Fig.5.

Fig. 11 is a section on the line 1 1 -11 of Fig. 5. s i

Fig. 12 is the rear view of a back cushion. Fig. 13 is a section on theline 13-13 of Fig. 7 Chairclosed.

Fig. 14 is a detail view of the locking shaft cam.

Fig. 15 is a bottom view of the seat cushion.

17 is a sectionon the line 17- 17 of FRANKLIN w. 30 m, or CHICAGO,ILLINOIS the chair being rotatably mounted onthe Fig. 20 is the frontview of a modified form of a chair in open position; g

Fig. '21 is the rear view of the "modified form of chair. 7;; Fig. 22 isa section onthe line 2222 0f Fig. 21. v i

Fig. 23 Fig.24. Fig. 24 is a section on the line 24-24015 Fig.20.' r '60'Fig. 25'isv a section on theline 25 25f 0f Fig.22; Fig. 26 is a sectiononthe line 2c 2c-o Fig.25s 1 Fig. 27 is a section on the 1ine2727 of Fi22.

Fig. 28 is a section on the line 2828 of Fig.27. i I

Fig. 29 is a sect-ion on the line 29-,29of Fig.27." m'

Fig. 30 is a perspective view of a party. Like numerals refer to likeparts throughis a section on the line 23- 230} out the several figures.Referring now ,to the drawings, I have shown in-Fig. 1 a car 1containing a plural ity of chairs embodyingthe invention ,the chairsbeing arranged to .form sleeping berths. These chairs .form the lowerberth 2. The upper berth .3 may be constructed in the manner in whichsaid berths are atpresent" constructed, so that they may. be shut up andwhen in use will thus be out of the way. The chairs which are used aschairs or'which may be made up'into berths may be similar and may besupported in any desired manner: For purposes of illustration, I haveshown these chairs as being supported upon pedestals 4 fastened to thefloor the upper partof pedestal in any desired manner. 7

' It is, of course, evident that the method of supporting the chair maybe arranged to meet the'conditions presented. Thev chairs are arrangedso that they are like ordinary chairs when being used as chairs. -Whenit isdesired to make a berth, the two chairs; are arranged facing eachother, the seat por tions of the chairs being slid back upon the bases.Theinside arms of the chairs, that is, the arms nearest the wall of thevehicle are extended and the cushions at the backs of the chairs aretaken out and placed between the chairs so as to fill the space betweenthem, these cushions resting on portions of the bottoms of the bases ofthe chairs which are exposed when the bottoms of the chairs are slidback. A complete support 1s thereby formed for the mattress which istaken from the upper berth and placed on this support and the berth madeup.

, Referring now to the particular construction of the form of chairillustrated, such chair has a base 5, (see Figs. 7, 8-, and 9), suchbase having a projecting part 6 provided with a laterally extendingflange-7 which rests on the flange 8 of the pedestal 4. A connectingpiece or shaft9 projects into the; connecting piece 6 and the pedestal 4so as to make a strong connection between them which permits therotation of the base upon the pedestal. The pedestal being fastenedtolationship with the pedestal.

the floor isstationary and the base is rotated thereon. 'Some means isprovided for holding the base of the chair in any desired re- In theconstruction shown, this is accomplished by providing the pedestal witha series of open-- ings 10 and providing the base of the chair with apin 11 adapted to fit into any one of these holes so as to hold the basein any desired position.

In the construction shown, the flange 7 is provided with a cup 12through which the pinll passes. This pin has a stop 13 thereon whichlimits its motion in one direction.

A spring 14 in the cup 12 engages this stop andnormally holds the pin inposition in one of the holes 10. When it is desired to change theposition o'fthe base of the chair with rela- [tion to the pedestal, thepin is lifted: to disengage it from thepedestal. Any suitablemeans maybe used for this purpose. As herein shown, the pin- 11 is provide'd withan engaging part 15 which is engaged by an actuating part 16; Thisactuating part is provided with a beveled edge l'Z and is connected witha sliding rod-18 slidably mounted in a member 19 connected with the baseof the' ehair. A handle 20 is connected with the slidin rod. When thesliding rod 18 is movec inwardly, the pin ll is lifted to disengage itfrom the pedestal 4. The base of the chair may then be rotated to anydesired position. When the rod 18 is released, the spring 14 will movethe pin into one of the openings 10 which may be opposite to such pinand this fixes the base of the chair to the pedestal 4.

When the chair is being used asa chair, the bottom 21 ispreferablycentrally located over the pedestal 4. On the bottom is a seat cushion22'. The chair is provided with a back 23 The bottom and back, base andpedestal are preferably made of metal. A back cushion. 24 is removablyconnected with the back.

The chair is provided at the sides with the arms 25 and 26. At least oneof these arms is arranged to be moved to extend the bottom of the chair,that is, make the bottom wider.

In the construction herein shown, this is accomplished by having the arm25 hinged so that itmay be folded over as hereinafter eX- plained. Thechair is arranged so that the seat and the back may be slid rearwardly.The bottom is held in its forward position,- that is, the position whichit occupies when the device is used as a chair, by the holding piece 27which projects into an opening in the bottom as shown in Fig. 9.

y This holding piece is provided with a suitable releasing mechanism bymeans of which the holding piece is disconnected from the bottom when itis desired'to slide the bottomwith relation to the base.

In the construction shown, the holding piece 27 passes through the base25 and projects through a cylinder 28 attached to. the base. The holdingpiece has a stop 29 which limits its upward movement. Within thecylinder is a spring 30 which normally holds the holding piece in itslocking position, that is in engagement with-the bottom .21. The holdingpiece is provided with an engag in}; part 31 which is engaged by an arm32 on a rod 33 mounted in brackets 34, 35 on the lower side of the base5. It willbe seen that by partially rotating or rocking this red in onedirection, the arm 32 will be moved downwardly soas to move the holdingpiece 27 out of engagement with the bottom 21. The rod 33 is rocked inany desired manner. As,

herein shown, it is connected to ashaft 36,-

the shaft 36 is provided with a pin 41 which i engages this cam facewhen the shaft is rotated, It will be seen, (see Fig. 13) that when theshaft 36 is rotated, the pin 41 will move along the cam face 40 thusmoving the shaft 36 longitudinally to the left, that is, toward thefront of the chair. rod 33 so as to move the arm 32 to cause it to movethe holding piece 27 to disengage it from the bottom 21. The bottom maythen be moved baekwardly. The handle maybe released as soon as theopening 42 in the bottom has moved to one side of the holding piece 27.As the bottom is moved back,the

hole 43 will come opposite the holding piece 27 and said holding piecewill then be moved up into this hole by the spring 30 so as to hold theparts in their rearward position. The back of the chair is also widened.This widening of the back may be accomplished This will rock the byvarious mechanisms. As herein shown, it is accomplished by means ofthearm 25. This arm is pivotally connected to the bottom by one or morehinges 44. The back 23 of the chair has two overlapping sections 45, 46which are adapted to be moved rela-. tively towiden the back.

The arm is connected with the section 46, (see Figs. 16 and 17). The arm25 has connected therewith a pin 47 which works in a guide 48 on thesection 46 of the back of the chair. This guide is provided with a stop49 for said pin which prevents itfrom becoming disengaged from theguide, and when the device is used as a chair, the arm 25 is held in itsupright position and the section 46 of the back held in its chairposition by the locking piece 50 which engages a notch 51 in the section46 of the back.

Some means is provided for releasing this locking piece. As hereinshown, the looking piece 50 is connected with the chair by a fasteningpiece 52 and is. provided with a slot 53 so that it may be moved withrelation to this fastening piece so as to move it out of the notch 51 inthe section 46 of the back. The locking piece is moved by means of ahandle 54 on the shaft 55 working in bearings 56 and 57. This shaft isprovided with an arm 58 whichis connected with the locking piece 50 by apin 59 working in a slot 60 in said arm (see Fig. 16). The shaft 55 isprovided with a retracting spring'61. When r the shaft is rotated by thehandle 54, the.

locking piece 50 is moved out of the notch 51 to the position shown indotted lines in Fig. 16 and the arm 25 and section 46 of the back willthen be moved to the position illustrated in Fig. 5. The section 46'ofthe back is provided with a second notch 62 into which the locking piece50 is received when the section 46 is in its extended position as shownin Fig. 5. 'A retracting spring 61 normally 1- holds this locking partin its locking position.

' In the construction shown, the base 5 is provided on its lower sidewith a series of strengthening ribs 63. The seat cushion 22 is providedwith some means for preventing it from accidentally sliding out ofposition on the bottom 21.

In the construction shown, this is secured by means of projections 64,(see Fig. 15) which fit into slots 65in the bottom (see Fig. 8). Whenthe arm 25 is moved about not leave an unfilled bottom space at the ionwhich: was under the arm 26, as shown in Fig. 16.. When the seat cushion22' is slid overI as herein set out, the pins 64 slide along the slots65, (see Fig. 11) The holding piece 27 as shown'in Fig. 9 projects intoa hole 66 in the seat cushion.*. When thisconstruction is used, asimilar hole 67., (see Fig. 15), must i be provided so that when theseat cushion is slid over, the holding piece 27 will enter this hole.The seat cushionalso has a hole 68 for the holding piece 27 when thebottom, 21 isslid back, as shown in Fig. 10. The seat cushion is alsoprovided at its rear end with ap-rojecting part69 which projects underthe back cushion supporting piece 70, forming apart. of the back of. thechair. The back cushion'24 is provided ,atits 'bottom with. a holdingpiece 71 whichahasa groo've into which is received the supporting piece70, (see Fig. 7),. The back is provided with inclined guiding pieces72-72-which guide thezholding piece 71 into position so as to insure.the supporting-piece. 7O entering the slot therein. This guiding piece72 has 'a bent portion 73 which insures the supporting piece entering.the groove in the holding piece 71. Some means is provided for hold-.ing the top of the back cushion in position. As herein shown, the backsection'45 is, pro-, vided with pieces 74 and 74a. which act as guidesfor the back section 46 to permit itv to be slid with relation to theback section 45 but: prevent its" outward movement away from the section45., 1

Connected with this piece'74 is a pin-7 5 which has a head 76. The backcushion 24 has a plate 77 provided with a slot 78 hav-v ing an enlargedportion 79, (see Fig. 12). The head 76 is inserted inthe enlarged por-.-tion 79 of the slot and the back'is moved under the pin through thenarrower .portion of the slot. This holds the top'of the back againstmovement away from the back; of the chair. This slot 78 is elongatedso'astopermit a sliding betweenthe pin and the back cushion. The backcushion is also provided with the locking openings 80. ,VVhen the chairsare made into a berth, theback cushions of the chairs are used as thebottom of the berth and these locking openings fit over lookingprojections 81 on the base 5 of each chair. Each chair base has two ofthese locking projections 81 and one of the locking openingsin one endof the back cushion receives one of the locking projections on one chairand one of the locking openings in the other end of the back cushionreceives one of the locking projections on the opposite chair, (see Fig.4). p This holds the cushion in the space between the chairs at theouter edge of the berth, (see Fig; 4). The,

other back is placed near the wall and the other two locking projections81 are received in two locking openings of this back cushion. Theselocking openings and projections hold the backs against accidentalmovement.

In the construction shown the base 5 is provided with guides 5a whichslide in guideways formed by the angle members 56 connected with thebottom 21. (In Figs. 20 to 30, the bottom 83)". When the chair is slidback the parts slide on the guides 5a since the base 5 remainsstationary. A stop 50' is arranged on the bottom portion 20 and a stop565 on the base 5 which are brought into engagement to limit thissliding motion. The back section 45 is provided with an eye 45a having abolt 45b to lock the partition 107 in position. The arm 25 is providedwith a fitting 25a near the pivot pin 47 which fitting slides along theback section 46- to hold the pivot pin 47 in its slot or guide 48.

The plate 21'is provided with a stop 214; which strikes a stop 21?; onthe base plate 5 to limit the backward movement of the chair. When thehandle 38 is rotated so that pin 41 bears against cam face 40, both thecushion 22 and plate 21 are unlocked, the pin 27 being moved far enoughto be removed from the holes in. the cushion 22 and the plate 21. Whenthe handle 38 is rotated so that pin 41 bears against cam face 40a, the27 is only removed from the opening in the cushion This permits thecushion to be slid laterally when the arm 25 is moved down so as towiden the chair to seat two people. The plate 21 remains locked so thatthe parts cannot be moved backward. When the chair is thus widened itcan be used to seat two people.

In Figs. 20' to 30 I have shown a modified form of chair. In thisconstruction, the bottom 83 is provided with the upwardly bent end 84,(see Fig. 22). The back cushion supporting piece 70 is connected withthe upturned end 84,- by the connecting piece 85 and the screws 86 and87.

In this construction,- which isthe preferred construction, the cushionsare preferably pro vided with metal backing plates the bottom cushionhaving the plate 22a and the back cushion having the plate 24a. Theslots 78 and 7 9' and the opening 80 in this construction are in theback plate which extends over the entire area of the back cushioninstead of in the small plate as shown in the construction heretoforedescribed.

The guiding piece 88 which guides the grooved member 89 on the backcushion into engagement with the supporting piece 70 is connected withsaid supporting piece by the fastening device 90 and is spaced therefromby the spacing block 91. The lower guide 92 for the section 46 of theback of the chair is attached to the section 4'5'and the section 515 46is provided at its lower end with the enlargement-93, the guide beingshaped to receivethis enlargement. The upper guide 94 for the backsection 46 consists of a member connected with the back sectionand'looped over the section 46, (see Fig. 22). The arm 26 has its rearend 26a bent, (see Figs. 21 and 24) and connected to the back section 45is provided with the inwardly bent portion 96. The bottom 83 isconnected with the arm 26 by the screw 97, (see Fig. 23) and alsoengages a bracket 98 connected with the arm and with the back section45. The arm 25 is provided with a bracket 99, (see Figs. 26 to 30). Thisbracket is connected with the bent portion of the back carrying the pin47 and is provided with a projecting part 100 which extends between thesections 45 and 46 of the back. It also has a member 101 which engagesthe back section 45' when the arm is folded, (see Figs. 28 and 29) so asto hold the arm against outward movement. The locking piece a whichprojects into the notch 51 passes through the bottom of the guide 92,(see Figs. 25 and 26) and enters a groove in the up turned end 84of thebottom 83. This upturned end and the guide 92 hold the locking pieceagainst lateral movement so that no pin is necessary. The upwardmovement of the locking piece is limited by the shoulder 102 whichengages the guide 92. The. retracting spring 103 for the rod is locatednear the front end of said rod, as shown in Fig. 26.

WVhen the chair is used as a chair, the arms are in their verticalpositions and the two sections of the back are opposite each other, asshown in Figs. 6 and 21. When it is desired to make a berth with two ofthe chairs, thechairs are turned facing each other. The bottoms andbacks of the chairs are slid rearwardly as shown in Fig. 4. The arms25ers then lowered and the back sections 46 moved toward the wall of thecar as shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 20. The edge of the arm 25 rests upon asupport 104 on the wall 105 of the car- The back cushions 24 are thenplaced in position, having their ends supported upon the bases 5 of theopposed chairs. The inner back cushion 24 has its inner edge supportedon the support 104 on the wall 105 of the car. The seat cushions aremoved toward the wall until they close the gap formed by the turningdown of the arms 25. It will, therefore, be seen, as shown in Fig. 4that the entire bottom of the berth is provided with cushions.

The upper berth may be arranged in the usual way by means of the hingedsupport 106 which is moved about its hinge to a horizontal position whenthe berth is to be made up. The usual hinged partitions 107 are placedbetweenthe berths. These partitions are providedwith the section 108which is slid downwardly when the berth is made, as shown in full linesin Fig. 2 so as to fill the space between the arm 26 and the lower edgeof the partition 107. This section 108 may be slid up into a recess inthe partition, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and held in place bya pin 109 when not in use. The usual pillows, covers and the like maynow be placed in the berth as is customary in the ordinary berths.

It will thus be seen that these chairs may be used as chairs in thedaytime and may then be easily and quickly arranged to form berths atnight and that the same car, therefore, may be used as a chair car andas a sleeper. This permits the same car to be used in the daytime as achair car and then to be used that night as a sleeper, permitting thecontinuous use of each car, whether it is desired to use it as a sleeperor a chair car. This greatly reduces the number of cars necessary on anygiven line.

I claim:

1. A chair construction comprising a base, a bottom movably connectedwith said base, two arms connected with the bottom, a back comprisingrelatively movable sections, and means for moving one of said arms towiden the chair bottom and back, said bottom and back being movablyconnected to said base so that the bottom and back may be moved topermit the base to project beyond said bottom.

2. A chair construction comprising two chairs each having a base, abottom movably connected with said base, two arms, a back comprisingrelatively movable sections, means for moving one of said arms to widenthe chair bottom and back, said bottom and back being movably connectedto said base so that the bottom and back may be moved to permitvthe baseto project beyond said bottom, cushions connected with the backs of saidchairs, said cushions adapted to be supported on the projecting portionsof said bases, andseat cushions for said chairs, the seat cushions andback cushions substantially filling the space between the backs of thechairs so as to form a bed.

8. A chair construction comprising a bot- I tom, a back having onesection connected with said bottom, a second section for said back,slidably connected therewith, an arm pivoted to said bottom and movablyconnected with the slidable section of said back whereby the movement ofthe arm moves the sliding section of said back to extend the back, alocking part, two separated engaging devices on the sliding section ofsaid back, one adapted to be engaged by the looking part when thesliding section is in one position andthe other adapted to be engaged bysaid locking device when the sliding part is moved out to widen theback.

Signed at Chicago, county of Cook and State of Illinois, this 8th day ofJuly, 1927.

FRANKLIN W. KOHLER.

